


We Are The Executioners

by amsch



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst, Arch-enemies!!, Gen, Moderate Violence, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-23 17:51:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4886071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsch/pseuds/amsch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He jerks awake, immediately alert. His senses flood with information- pain, hunger, cold, darkness. It seems that he’s sprawled on a bare concrete floor, and judging from the way his head feels twice it’s usual size, it’s likely he was knocked out with a blow to the face. Jack groans, remembering the disastrous raid on the Newsies shelter.The details are fuzzy, but the smell of something burning and the frightened shouts of the boys are vivid in his memory. The General’s troops had tracked them down yet again, and he can taste the failure in his mouth, remembering their foolish hope that this time they might be safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He jerks awake, immediately alert. His senses flood with information- pain, hunger, cold, darkness. It seems that he’s sprawled on a bare concrete floor, and judging from the way his head feels twice it’s usual size, it’s likely he was knocked out with a blow to the face. Jack groans, remembering the disastrous raid on the Newsies shelter.The details are fuzzy, but the smell of something burning and the frightened shouts of the boys are vivid in his memory. The General’s troops had tracked them down yet again, and he can taste the failure in his mouth, remembering their foolish hope that this time they might be safe. 

How long has it been since the raid? Hours? Days? He reaches up and touches his face, feeling blood around his mouth that’s still sticky. Not so long then. Still time to fix this, make it right. He eases himself up, trying to see his surroundings through the dark, and just like he suspected, he’s alone. The other boys must be being kept somewhere else in the compound. It’s not his first time being held prisoner here, but it will be for many of the younger kids. He hopes Crutchie and Davey are with them - oh god. Crutchie and Davey. What if one of them was hurt in the raid? Something clicks into place in his brain and fragments of memory slam into him like a wrecking ball: Crutchie falling, his heavy metal brace scraping against the concrete, Crutchie struggling with a guard in faceless black riot gear, trying to crawl away as the guard kicks him, again and again, Crutchie screaming for him,  _Jack, Jack help me_ …

He curls into a ball, digging his fingernails into his scalp and trying not to scream into his hands. He pushes the memory aside, _they’re fine he’s not dead he can’t be dead i’ll fix it i have to fix this_  and tried to focus on how exactly how they’re going to make it out of this alive. He pictures the labyrinthine floor plan of the compound in his mind, memorized during nights strategizing with Davey by candlelight. If Davey was captured, if Davey isn’t hurt, he could lead the others out.  _Without me._

Footsteps approach the metal door. It slams open, a bright shard of light and sound making his head spin. Rough hands grab his arms and yank him to his feet, dragging him out into a corridor. The soldiers pull him down the hallway into an interrogation room, where he unsuccessfully tries to resist being forced into a cold metal chair.

The door opens again and Katherine Pulitzer strides in, slamming a thick folder down onto the table between them. Of all the officers, it had to be the General’s daughter, didn’t it. The girl trained from birth to be ruthless and efficient. She’s made their lives a living hell, tracking every move and cornering them every time they thought they started to let their guard down. Since Davey had joined them, escaped from her elite officer training program, she’d doubled down on her efforts, personally attending the raids and, if the whispers were to be believed, torturing kids for information herself too. No doubt it had been her who’d led the raid that ended in their capture. Another memory flashed in Jack’s brain: Katherine Pulitzer, standing on a platform above the melee, her face lit by the flames. They’d made eye contact as he lay on the floor bleeding into the ashes, and she’d smiled at him before he passed out, cold and hard and glittering like a diamond. 

“You.” Jack snarls. He spits at her feet, the blood landing on the concrete.

“Oh, it’s me alright.” She glides over and pulls his chin up, brushing his dirty hair out of his face so she can look him in the eyes. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for months. I always knew I’d catch you dirty rats eventually. It is a pity how often you manage to slip up, isn’t it? Still, I’m hoping our time together can be brief, but profitable for us both. You cooperate, and we let you live. Sound good?”

“What about the rest of my crew? I’m their leader and they trust me.”

“Francis, sweetie, - is it okay if I call you by your given name? You’ve let your friends down. You’ve failed them. We’re going to -how to say this delicately- forcibly extract information from them. Now, I know you’ve been tortured before, so you’re used the process of dehumanization, but I think it’s terribly sad how your personal failure as a leader has condemned your friends to such a fate. Particularly my old student David. A shame to let that brain go to waste.” She clicks her tongue. “And that little crippled boy- so sad.”

Jack surges forward, forgetting about the cuffs restraining him. He wants to hurt her, primal  violence like he’d never felt rising to the surface. “You are a  _monster_ ,” he snarls.”You’re a dead shell of a human- have you ever felt friendship? Loyalty? Love? Or are you just a tool -raised to torture innocent people by your monster father?”

Katherine grabs his face again, his fingers digging into his cheek. Her eyes are dark, black pools that betray no emotion. She speaks quietly. “Loyalty is all I know. I’m loyal to my father and would- will- give my life for him. You, rebellious child that you are, will never understand  _devotion_.” Jack’s chin is still in her hand, and he snaps his teeth, catching the soft flesh between her thumb and forefinger. Blood fills his mouth, and he spits it in her face, this time perfectly hitting his mark. Katherine reels back, clutching her hand to his chest. Fury courses through his body as Jack glares at her. She smiles, teeth gritted, and wipes the blood off of her cheek. Jack can barely perceive her hand shaking, but he knows he’s unsettled her.  

“You know, I think I prefer to make you pay for that right here than wait and torture one of your friends. It’ll be so much more satisfying.” She calls to a guard posted by the door. “Bring the tools.He’s already attacked me, so we’ll just start right in on the pain, even though I was hoping we’d be able to avoid it, seeing as how Francis here is such an intelligent boy.” 

She delicately picks up the hammer the guard had laid in front of us, distaste evident on her face. “I’d rather not. You do it.” She whispers something in the guard’s ear. Jack’s trying to decipher the look on her face - a mixture of cold fury, distaste, and…pity? when pain explodes in his wrist. He screams and hears bones crack as the hammer smashes through them, his vision immediately going black for a second, and then fading back, distorted and over-saturated. He feels his eyes rolling back in his head, the blood that’s still in his mouth trickling down his chin as his head falls forward. 

“Hey, hey! Ja- Kelly! He shouldn’t look like that. You, get over there, don’t let him pass out or all of this will be for nothing.” Jack can hear her, but just barely over the roaring in his head -  it’s getting louder and louder until it hurts his ears, but now Katherine’s looking around too, so it’s not just in his head, and the ground is shaking and everything goes black again.

* * *

Jack wakes up on the floor for the second time in less than an hour, but this time the pain is worse, screaming down his shoulder to his wrist. He pulls himself up on the table, looking around incredulously.The lightbulb strung from the ceiling is still ricocheting around, showing cracked walls, rubble on the floor, the guard’s open eyes staring blankly in the corner. He shudders and look around for Katherine, but can’t see another body. _Okay, think, think, Jack. Is the door unlocked?_   He’s jiggling the door handle, trying to figure out the mechanism behind the lock, when it swings open, and he loses his grip, stumbling forwards into someone’s arms. “Jack! Thank god you’re alive!” He looks up into Crutchie’s face.

“Crutchie. You’re okay? Did they hurt you? The other boys-”

“We’re okay. They were keeping us all together a few cells down, but when the bombs hit our door came off it’s hinges.” The other boys behind him look unhurt, but pale with fear and covered in dirt from the explosion. Jack spots Davey in the back of the group, keeping on eye on the rear. His lip is bleeding badly and his eyes are darting around like a caged animal on the verge of panic. Crutchie seems calm, but there’s a tightness around his eyes that Jack hasn’t seen before and there are ominous patches of blood on his clothes and leg brace. “Whose blood is that?”

Crutchie shakes his head, not meeting Jack’s eyes. “Later. We have to go.” He looks back at the group and motions to Davey to come up.  He shoulders forward, eyes widening in shock at Jack’s appearance. Jack feels something urgent pressing on his memory, and the words spill out before his sluggish brain realizes what he’s saying. “This is our only chance to make it to the safe house. To Santa Fe.” Crutchie and Davey exchange a worried look at the name of the mysterious safe house. 

Davey speaks up.“Jack- you know we don’t have any proof Santa Fe exists. You won’t even tell us any details, how can you expect us to put our hope in your-”

“My what? Hallucination? Dream? It’s  _real_. It’s where we can be free. This is our only chance.  _Please,_ ” he whispers, his voice breaking.

Crutchie and Davey exchange another unreadable look. Cruchie gives Jack a tiny nod and breaks their huddle, turning back to the group.

 “Right, we’re wasting time. Guys! We’ve got Jack. Back to the exit we saw earlier.” Davey grabs Jack’s broken wrist to put it around his shoulder and Jack gasps, knees hitting the floor as his legs give out. Davey inhales through his teeth.

“Oh  shit, Jack, I didn’t see…okay, other side. No time to take care of it right now.” He hoists Jack up by the other arm and but something in the corner of the room grabs his attention. “Jack. Is that Katherine Pulitzer? Crutchie, get over here!” He’s looking at a crumpled form lying behind the table. “She’s still alive, I can see her breathing. Do you think…” Davey glances at Jack uncertainly.

“I think we should take her with us. She’s important to the General, we can use her as leverage,” Crutchie says decisively, but Jack shakes his head.

“But she could be out of our way for good if we just…end it. One less person who knows too much about us.”

Davey looks shocked. “That’s cold, Jack. She’s our enemy, but -”

“She’s MY enemy. She did this to me!” Jack holds up his wrist, already a dark purple color and swollen. “She deserves to die for the way she’s hunted us like rats, forced us to act like animals…”

Crutchie‘s voice is level but firm. “Jack. We’re not executioners, and we don’t decide who deserves to die. We’ll need her if we want to make a deal with Pulitzer that’s going to be worth anything. If we make it out of the city and somehow get free, get to Santa Fe…we can consider our other options.” He looks at Davey, confirming the decision. Jack can’t muster the strength to argue anymore - he just wants to get out of this hellhole.

Davey calls two of the boys back from where they’re filing down the hallway. “Specs, Finch! Carry her, tie her up as soon as we get outside.” The three of them make their way back down the hallway towards a shaft of weak, dusty sunlight, and then they’re outside, struggling painfully over blocks of concrete, the air still gritty but blessedly fresh air. It’s eerily silent in the deserted city.

The little group runs along the street soundlessly, sticking to the twilight shadows as the sun sets and moving in formation, just like Jack’s taught them.He points to the north, and they adjust their course.  Davey is supporting most of Jack’s weight, and he loses track of how long they’ve been moving…finally Jack looks back over his shoulder to see the lights of the city have grown small, and in front of them there’s nothing but darkness. Somewhere out there, in the wilderness, lies Santa Fe.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> okay so to recap: jack and co. have escaped into the wilderness. jack is a hot mess, (like boiling point hot) davey and crutchie are both about to snap under the pressure, and sarah’s just trying to keep everyone in one piece. oh, and there’s that pesky hostage problem.

Jack was back in the interrogation chair. But this time, there was a single harsh spotlight shining on him, the light glinting off the metal cuffs shackling his battered wrists. He fought against the chair, trying to escape the blinding light and the faceless silhouette he knew was behind it. His perspective changed abruptly, and he saw himself, watching impassively from behind the spotlight. His voice was booming from an unseen source, repeating three words that drilled into his brain like parasites. “ _You are nothing. You are nothing. You are nothing.”_

The scene changed, and Davey was fighting against the bonds of the interrogation chair as Jack watched, the tools set out in front of him glittering in the light. Then it was Crutchie, his face bloody as he whispered, “ _Help me, Jack_ ”. Then Katherine Pulitzer, dead, and he’d killed her. 

_“Who’s the monster now?”_

“Jack, wake up! Stop, stop fighting! It’s me!” Jack heard his breath coming in ragged gasps, and he opened his eyes, the the interrogation room vanishing. There was bright firelight burning his eyes, and trees spinning around him, and Crutchie’s face swam into focus above him.

“Sorry” he panted. “I’m sorry - it was a nightmare- “ He looked around again at the small campsite. “Where are we? Did we get out?”

“We’re out. We’ve stopped for the night.”

Jack tried to sit up and realized his left arm was splinted and tightly bound to his chest. It felt different, the ache dull and mild instead of the sharp pain he remembered. “My arm…when did you…”

“Sarah gave you something to help you sleep while she set your arm.”

Jack squinted at Crutchie, who was being strangely curt, and seemed to be avoiding eye contact. His face was dirtier and thinner than Jack remembered, cheekbones standing out in the firelight, and there were dark hollows under his eyes. “Crutchie - have you slept? You look awful.Did they hurt you- oh _fuck_.  _Fuck_. I saw the whole thing. I saw them- that guard, he was beating you, I didn’t do anything- you could have died and it would have been my fault-”

Crutchie looked down at his hands. Something in his expression made Jack’s stomach drop and he felt his panic rising into his throat, threatening to choke him.

“Oh god someone died, someone didn’t make it out, it’s my fault, who was it-” He was shaking Crutchie’s shoulder, his fingernails digging in.

“Jack. Please. You’re hysterical. I’m fine.”  He paused and swallowed. “Race didn’t make it.When the bomb hit the complex- he got a couple people out of the way of a falling beam but- at least it was quick.”

Jack couldn’t breathe. “No no no he can’t be dead, he’s been with me since the beginning, no, I can’t-” his voice broke off into a moan as he curled into himself.

Crutchie looked at Sarah, who was waiting a few feet away with Davey, holding a flask. He shook his head and she came over, putting a flask up to Jack’s mouth.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I need you to drink this. It will help you calm down.” Jack gulped a few mouthfuls down, went rigid, and then slumped back onto the ground, passed out. Crutchie covered him with a blanket, his hands shaking.

They walked back over to Davey, who was pacing in tight, short lines.

“How long is this going to go on, Sarah?” he burst out.

“I told you, I don’t know. He has a severe concussion and on top of his fractured wrist, the nightmares and stress- it’s not good. There’s nothing to do other than wait it out, David.”

“It’s been a week! A week since we escaped and every night it’s the same. He has screaming nightmares, Crutchie wakes him up, he doesn’t know where we are, he asks the same questions, and every night it ends in him sobbing in a ball on the ground.” His voice broke and Sarah put a hand on his shoulder, which he shrugged off.  

He pulled out the map, creased and worn from his incessant handling. For what felt like the thousandth time, he traced the detailed lines leading out of the city, up until they become vague sketches of the mountains and natural landmarks.”We’re somewhere here,” he said, pointing to the foothills. “But after we’ve followed the train tracks like we did today, we have to find the river and… and then…” Davey compulsively folded and unfolded the map a few times, his voice becoming panicked and aggravated. “I just need to talk to him. I need Jack back. Not like this. I can’t take this anymore.”

“Don’t take your frustration out on us,” Sarah said.”We’re all doing the best we can.”

“Do you think any of us  _like_  this?” Crutchie snapped at Davey. He dragged a hand through his hair, trying to stay calm. “Jack thinks he’s failed us and it’s eating him up inside. But if we can make it to Santa Fe, it will prove he was right. Maybe when we’re safe there it will be enough to bring him back.”

“ _‘When’_  we’re safe there?  _Nowhere’s_ safe!” He clenched the map in his fist and turned on his heel, storming into the darkness.

“Let him go,” Sarah said. “We’re all under a lot of pressure.” She glanced towards the pile of sleeping bodies by the fire, big and small tangled together in a messy pile. Looking back at Crutchie, she found tears silently running down his face as he stared into the fire. He shook his head and wiped them away, smearing the dirt on his face. Still staring at the fire, he spoke as if already in the middle of a conversation with himself.

“Jack’s always been damaged. We all are-that’s what you get when you grow up fighting on the wrong side of a war we didn’t create. But he doesn’t show it like other kids do. He tells himself the cracks aren’t there are since no one else can see them, they don’t exist. But now he’s more than damaged, he’s  _broken_. This broke him, and I don’t know that he’ll ever come back. What if he can’t fix himself, and we can’t fix him and…what do we do then?” He pulled his gaze away from the fire and ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to stop the tears that were still making tracks on his face.

“I…I don’t know. But I know you have to rest. Please, go lay down.”

Crutchie nodded and walked over to Jack, curling up next to him and pulling the blanket over them both. Sarah sighed and looked back at the group. A watchful pair of eyes reflected the fire back at her, making her breath catch. Katherine Pulitzer, sitting against the tree she was tied to, had seen and heard everything.

* * *

The next morning, they were all surprised when Jack woke up coherent enough to give Davey further details about how to reach the safe house. Crutchie sent Sniper and Smalls to scout ahead, and then went to go sit with Davey and Jack by the fire, where Davey was urging Jack to eat. They both looked pale and unhappy, with sleepless dark bags under their eyes that matched the ones Crutchie guessed he was also sporting.

Davey avoided eye contact when Crutchie attempted a tentative “Good morning!” , mumbling a response, but Jack looked up, focusing on Crutchie’s face for a second as if trying to remember something. He seemed disoriented and hazy, but he wasn’t asking questions, which Crutchie took as a good sign. After forcing down some of the thin soup they’d managed to concoct, he looked around the campsite, his face showing some interest for the first time until his eyes fell upon the bedraggled figure crouched next to Specs, eating with her hands bound together. Jumping to his feet, he nearly tripped over the log they were sitting on. He slowly sat back down. Crutchie and Davey glanced at each other.

“What’s…what is it, Jack?”

“I’m hallucinating.” He whispered. “I’m seeing Katherine Pulitzer and she’s not really there.” He wrapped his good arm around his chest and began rocking back and forth.

“She’s really here, Jack. We all can see her too.”

“Why is she here?” he hissed, standing up again. “She’s  _evil_. She killed Crutchie - no, that’s not right- she killed….I can’t remember. We can’t have her here.  _She’s going to torture us_!” His voice had risen, and he shouted the last few words, bringing the chatter of the camp to a halt as everyone stared at Jack.

“She…she…” He stuttered, pointing at Katherine.Everyone’s eyes followed his finger to Katherine, whose face was caught somewhere between defiant and horrified.

One of the little boys started crying quietly. Sarah went over to console him, giving Crutchie a “ _do something_ ” look.

Crutchie stood up and gently pushed Jack back down onto the log, smiling to diffuse the tension. “No one’s going to be tortured. We have everything under control. Did everyone get enough breakfast? There’s more, um, acorn gruel! We have another long day of walking ahead of us, so eat up!” 

Gradually, conversations resumed and the group went back to their breakfast, only casting occasional worried glances the the small huddle on the log. Davey was speaking low and fast to Jack, reminding him how and why they’d taken Katherine prisoner.

After a couple days of shouting, threatening, and failed escape attempts, she’d become quiet and sullen, hiding behind a curtain of tangled hair but clearly alert. Most of the group kept a wide berth from her, making it easy to keep her isolated. Specs had taken on the responsibility for guarding her, and was usually the one to bring her food and water when they stopped. As far as they could tell, Pulitzer was either dead or not bothering to search for his only child. How Katherine felt about this was anyone’s guess.

* * *

They’d been walking for a few hours, making slightly better time than usual now that Jack was up and moving, when they reached the waterfall from the map. Sniper and Smalls were already there, waving and shouting from on top of the falls. Smalls scrambled down the rocks to meet them and ran up to Davey, who was in the front of the group. “We found it!” she called. “We found the safe house!”

“What did you find? Tell us,” asked Crutchie, a little breathlessly, as he and Jack caught up to Davey and Smalls.

“It used to be a lodge, some kid of wood cabin, but it’s been fortified and concealed. We were standing right in front of it, thinking we must have misread the map, before Sniper saw the door. It’s in a perfect defensive spot, where we could see people but no one can see us. It’s amazing!” She laughed and punched Jack on the shoulder. “Good job, Boss.” Jack was speechless. He rubbed his shoulder, the ghost of a smile crossing his face.

“And good job to you two as well,” said Crutchie. “Can you lead us there before nightfall?”

“Sure can. It’s only a couple hours away. Do you want me and Snipes to fill everyone else in?”

Crutchie nodded and couldn’t help but smile as the girls gathered everyone else around and announced the news, which brought a ragged cheer from the tired, weary group. Specs tried to hug Katherine, but at the look on her face he changed his hug into a clap on the back at the last minute and hugged Romeo instead.

Sarah ran over to Jack, Davey, and Crutchie. She took Jack’s arm in hers. “You did it, Jack! We’re gonna be okay! Come on, you can walk with me and Buttons. He was just telling me about the time when you dressed up like Santa Claus for Christmas and brought presents, do you remember that?” 

She shot Crutchie and Davey another meaningful look over her shoulder. Crutchie groaned internally. So this was what having a big sister felt like.

“I’m glad we’re almost there. All these days of hiking….my leg is killing me and my brace needs some serious maintenance.” He reached down and tightened the straps, trying to clear some of the caked mud out of the hinges while he waited for Davey to gather his thoughts.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you last night. It’s…” They started walking, bringing up the rear of the group. “It’s hard for me to feel like we’ll ever be safe after seeing what they-” He looked around for Katherine, making sure she was out of earshot. “What they’re capable of. In Katherine’s program, we were forced to watch what they do to people who defy them. We learned about the technology they have  - you can’t even imagine the things they can do with technology. They see everything, hear everything. Being back in the compound brought it all back so clearly. And now I’m trying to forget but I can’t, not with with her around. She tried to brainwash me, Crutchie. I’m sorry if I seem…tense. Or paranoid. That’s why.”

“So that’s why, when we were all in the cell, you were…”

“Curled up in a ball in the corner like a coward? Yeah. I’ve seen exactly what they would have done to us if we hadn’t gotten lucky with that bomb.”

“Jesus, Davey.”

He took a shuddering breath and his shoulders relaxed a fraction. “If Santa Fe is what we think it is…maybe we can be safe like you and Jack say. I do trust you guys, you know.”

“I know.We’ve made it this far- we can’t give up now. Just a little further.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jack, crutchie, davey, sarah and co. made it to the safe house, santa fe, but they should probably deal with that hostage situation...before it's too late....

  

Beds, pillows, food, supplies...it felt too good to be true. Santa Fe was better than they’d dared to expect. Too tired to do much more than collapse on a bed, they’d all slept like the dead that first night, and the next morning was like waking up into a dream. A roof over their heads and plenty of food for breakfast were more than they’d had for years. The safe house was fully stocked with non-perishables and supplies, and the energy from a real night’s sleep and a full meal sent everyone into a frenzy of action. The little boys went crazy with glee, exploring the nooks and crannies of the cabin. A group went out to explore and scout for fresh water, and Sarah excitedly started taking inventory of the tiny infirmary. Crutchie took over the kitchen while Jack slept, and eventually, he forced Davey to stop hovering and come help cook. Even Katherine couldn’t keep up her brooding while sitting in the sun on the porch as Specs whittled nearby.

Eventually the scouts returned, with the news that there was a river nearby that looked ideal for a swim. Everyone leapt at the chance to wash away the blood, dirt, and sweat of their ordeal, and give their grimy clothes a soak at the same time. Crutchie sat on the bank of the river, meticulously cleaning and oiling his brace, and after a quick scrub Jack joined him. He was looking miles better after some restful sleep, Crutchie thought, studying Jack out of the corner of his eye.

Jack was watching the kids play in the river with a small smile, but as they started splashing each other and their laughter turned into screams, he cringed and his eyes went far away and lost. Feeling Crutchie watching him, Jack snapped back into focus and began anxiously fiddling with the splint around his wrist.

“I think my arm is almost better. I feel a lot better now. Less fuzzy,” Jack blurted. He paused and swallowed, and when he spoke again, his voice was unsteady. “Hey, Crutchie?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you...did you say that...Race was dead?”

Crutchie nodded, silently.

“I was hoping it was another hallucination...but he’s not here and...I remember you telling me- it was quick? They didn’t torture him?”

“It was a bomb. Just an accident.”

Jack looked down, overcome with emotion. He was quiet, but after a few minutes his face darkened again, eyebrows furrowing as he started yanking, more violently this time, at the bandages around his wrist. Crutchie pulled his hand away.

“Jack, none of us were tortured. You remember that, right?”

“Part of my brain knows that, but another part...I can see it so clearly... and I don’t know if it’s from my nightmares or if it’s...”

“It’s not real. It’s just in your head. You’ll get through this. We’ll take it one step at a time.”

Jack rested his forehead against Crutchie’s shoulder and let him comb through his wet, tangly hair with his fingers. In the river, Davey was washing Sarah’s hair as she tipped her face up to the sun.

“Do you want to go swimming?” Jack asked suddenly, sitting up. There was a familiar gleam in his eye that suddenly made Crutchie’s heart feel ten pounds lighter.

“Can’t. I’d get rusty.” He pointed at the brace laying next to him, now clean and shiny, and hopefully not going to make a noise like a dying pig every time he moved.

“Leave it. I’ll help you. C’mon, the water’s right there! So clear! So fresh! And believe me...you need a wash. You smell.” Jack laughed at his own joke, and the sound rang out like a clear bell. Davey squinted over at the bank, his face disbelieving, and broke out into a huge smile when he saw Jack’s face. Jack stood up, pulling Crutchie up with him, and slid an arm around his waist.

“It’s the least I can do after all you’ve done for me. Now, one step at a time, right? That’s what you’re always telling me.”

\---------

Davey’s sleep was restless that night, despite the heavenly feeling of being clean and the almost-as-heavenly feeling of being full and warm.  A cold sensation tickled his neck, and, as he shifted in his sleep, it pricked him. His eyes shot open, instincts kicking in as he realized something was wrong. The coldness on his neck twitched and a hot trickle slid down his throat. There was a goddamn knife to his throat, and he had a pretty good idea who might be holding it. He swallowed, keeping his breathing shallow, but a rough hand grabbed his hair, forcing his head back.

“If you scream, I’ll kill you right here.” Katherine hissed in his ear.

“Why are you doing this?” Davey kept his voice level. Inside, he felt like his organs were trapped in a vise.

“The same reason you took me along on this stupid, futile road trip. You’re my bargaining tool. I’m escaping, and your island of misfit toys will have no choice but to let me. Especially when they see that I’ll kill you if they don’t.”

“Wait-please...” He hated the pleading note in his voice, hated that he was kneeling here, frozen in fear, hated that he was a coward.

“You know I will, Jacobs. You know what I’m capable of.”

Davey knew exactly what she was capable of, and the thought of it made his throat close up. She could still control him like a puppet, even after all this time.

“Are you going to fight me? I think your darling sister and your best buddies have been through enough without having your blood on their hands too, don’t you?

“I’ll do what you say...please, don’t hurt them.”

She clicked her tongue. “Aw, so loyal. Why couldn’t you be this loyal to me? We were friends, Jacobs. You were my star student. Why did you betray me?”

“Friends don’t hold their friends at knifepoint.”

He felt the soft exhale of her laugh and the cold steel against his jaw relaxed a fraction.

“Besides, we weren’t _friends_. You manipulated and used me. You brainwashed me.”

He felt her pause, and her response, when it came, was flat and dull.  “That’s all I know how to do. That’s all I am.”

“Katherine-”

Hr body tensed, and she dug the tip of the knife a little harder under Davey’s jaw. A whimper escaped his lips, the fear returning. “Stop! No. I’m leaving.I have to go...somewhere. Anywhere but here, and not the city either. Now, listen carefully. We’re going to wait until it’s light, when I’ll wake everyone up and get them to come outside, where I’ll tell them we’re leaving. They’ll let us go. In a couple days, you can rejoin your friends and, I don’t know, start a freaking nudist colony out here for all I care. I don’t care about hunting you and your sad little posse anymore.”

Before Davey could respond, the knife was jerked away from his throat, and at the same time, a crash and a thud resounded inches away from his head. Davey scrambled backwards, trying to make sense of the scene before him. Crutchie stood over Katherine, holding a cast-iron frying pan.  Katherine moaned on the floor at Davey’s feet, both hands pressed to the back of her head. Still holding the frying pan, Crutchie took a fistful of her jacket and hauled her to her feet, yanking her back down a few inches so she was forced to look him directly in the eyes.

“No one fucks with my friends. I’m. Not. Afraid. Of. You.” The frying pan came down again, and Katherine dropped like a stone. Crutchie exhaled and seemed to deflate a few inches, letting the pan fall to the floor with a clunk.

“Thank you....how did you know...?”

“Sarah accidentally found Specs knocked out and tied up in the closet. I thought Katherine might come after you so I snuck in here as fast as I could. I just grabbed the first weapon I could find which was...” he gestured towards the frying pan. “I can’t believe she didn’t hear me. I can’t believe she had a knife to your throat.” Davey’s hand went to his neck, where a thin line of blood was already drying. He nudged Katherine with his foot. No response.

“We should tie her up or something before she comes to.”

“Help me get her down to the cellar. We can put her there for now. And Davey?”

“I don’t think we should tell Jack about this.”

They dragged her to the cellar, and were tying her up again when Katherine started to regain consciousness.

“No...wait,” she mumbled. The door slammed shut behind them.

Crutchie and Davey, both with far too much leftover adrenaline pumping through their systems to go back to sleep, headed upstairs to the kitchen. Neither of them felt much like talking, and Davey soon fell asleep on the table, his head pillowed in his arms. As the sky started to lighten outside, Crutchie shook him awake.

“Do you hear that?”

Davey rubbed his eyes and listened. Underneath them, someone was banging on the wall, muffled shouting barely audible.”Is that Katherine? She’s saying...‘Listen to me’...she’s yelling our names.” Davey looked at Crutchie, confused, but Crutchie was already on his feet, holding Katherine’s knife in his hand. Where had that come from? wondered Davey.

”Something’s up. We should go talk to her before the others hear her.”

They descended back down into the basement, and Davey eased open the cellar door a crack, worried she’d try to jump them. Being bashed in the head by a frying pan (twice) probably made that unlikely, but he could never be too careful.

“Katherine?”

Her voice was hoarse from yelling. “I need to talk to you. Both of you. Now.”

Crutchie pushed the door open fully  to find her still securely bound. He stepped inside, keeping his knife at the ready. Davey lingered in the doorway.

“Ah, the unlikely hero himself.” She tried to sneer, but winced and touched the back of her head where a giant lump had risen. She was sitting on the ground against the wall, somehow managing to look intimidating and pathetic at the same time. “You may think you saved Davey last night, but you have no idea what you’ve done. You’re an idiot. Brave, but an idiot.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I had a plan and you fucked yourselves over by ruining it.” Crutchie glanced back at Davey, who’s face mirrored his confusion. “Last night, when I got free, I had time to do a little sniffing around before I paid Davey a visit. Found the radio room, hidden in the attic just like I thought it’d be. I radioed the coordinates of this place to my father’s army and sent him a message.He’s coming at first light to bomb this place. I was _planning_ to let you all escape. When he arrived, I would have lured you outside under the cover of the trees, and he’d never know you weren’t sleeping peacefully, bombed to ashes in your bed. They thought I was going to meet them at the waterfall, but I’d be long gone. But you had to go and ruin it. Now he’s coming and there’s no way there’s enough time to get everyone out. You’ve killed yourselves.”

There was a clatter as Crutchie’s knife fell to the floor. His face had gone a sickly beige color, and Davey had his hands pressed over his mouth. A scream from upstairs shattered the silence. “There are soldiers outside!” someone yelled, and the floor above them began to shake with footfalls and confused shouting.

_“We’re surrounded!”_

_“Get down!”_

_“How did they find us?”_

Crutchie and Davey hastily untied Katherine and dragged her up the stairs. Jack was standing in front of a group of boys, keeping them away from a window, when Davey stumbled out of the cellar door.

“What- what were you doing down there? What happened to your neck?” Davey yanked Katherine up the last few stairs, followed by Crutchie. Jack blanched. “She has something to do with this. Oh my god. We’re all going to die.”

“Pull it together, Jack,” said Sarah, joining them. She turned to Crutchie and Davey, her eyes resting momentarily on Katherine. ”I can tell you two know something. What’s going on?” she demanded.

Davey tried to speak, but his voice was drowned out by Smalls shouting, “Stay away from the windows! Get down on the floor!”

A magnified voice echoed through the room from outside. “ _Have your leader bring Katherine Pulitzer outside_.” Jack, Crutchie and Davey all looked at each other.

“All three of you, go! Now!”  Sarah herded them to the door, pulling Katherine along with them. They staggered out into the sunlight. A line of soldiers surrounded them, guns pointing straight at their faces.

The soldier with the megaphone stepped forward. “I have two messages from The General. First, to the rebels: stay out here, and you will not be harmed. Do not attempt to enter the city or defy me in any way, and I will let you live. My second message, to Captain Pulitzer.” Katherine stepped forward. “You are a threat. I do not believe your claims to wish to rejoin me. I’m confident that you understand why I must eliminate you.” The guard raised a gun.

”Wait!” Crutchie yelled. The gun fired. Katherine crumbled to the ground. Sarah ran out and fell to her knees beside her. The gunshot echoed through the forest as everyone stood there, frozen, watching as Sarah felt for a pulse.

“She’s dead.”

The soldiers lowered their guns and retreated, melting into the trees. The megaphone blared one more time before the army vanished. “Remember my warning. Do not attempt to defy me, and you will be spared. You are no longer threats.”

Davey gazed down at Katherine’s blood at his feet, hypnotized by it’s slow spread across the leaves. Jack was staring into the forest, stunned, and Crutchie was doubled over, hands covering his face. Sarah looked up at them.

“I lied. She’s not dead. We can still save her. Boys!” she called over her shoulder. “Help me get her inside!” Specs and Buttons sprinted out, picking up Katherine’s limp body as Sarah applied pressure to the wound.They ran inside, Sarah shouting instructions as they rushed to the infirmary.

Her voice faded into the distance as the onlookers inside drifted away, leaving Jack, Crutchie and Davey still standing around the pool of blood on the ground.

“Crutchie. Did you hear Sarah? She’s not dead,” Davey said. “With the medical supplies we have here...Sarah can save her. I know she can do it. You probably saved Katherine’s life by distracting the guard as he fired.”

“It would have been my fault.” Crutchie said. His voice was muffled by his hands. “She tried to save our lives....”

“What is he talking about, Davey? When did Katherine try to save our lives?”

“It’s a long story. Last night, or actually this morning, she, um, kind of held me at knifepoint and told me she was going to escape. She told her dad where we were but she was going to let him think he’d bombed us by luring everyone outside by using me as bait, but Crutchie knocked her out with a frying pan, and then she didn’t tell us her plan until right before they got here...and...well, you saw the rest.”

Jack tried to sort through this muddled story for the pieces he understood. “She would have done that for us? Lied to The General?”

Crutchie straightened and took a shaky breath, running his hands through his hair. “She already did, and Pulitzer sent someone to kill her for it. Maybe she’s not as much like him as we thought. Killing your own daughter in cold blood for being a threat...I can’t even imagine.”

\---------

It was early the next morning when Katherine finally came to. Sarah was dozing in a kitchen chair next to her, but she sprang to her feet as Katherine started wake up.

“Careful, careful. Katherine? Can you hear me?” Katherine groaned and opened her eyes. “You were shot in the shoulder, but I got the bullet out quickly and I think you’ll be okay.”

“That bastard,” Katherine spit, struggling to sit up. “My own fucking father tried to have me killed. Sent one of his lackeys to remove the threat. Couldn’t even tell me to my fucking face-”

“Calm down! Please, lay down, you’ll rip your stitches.” Katherine rested her head back on the pillow and seemed to notice Sarah for the first time.

“He’ll be back, you know.”

“Actually, he won’t. I made sure of that when I lied and said you were dead.”

Katherine went quiet, and closed her eyes. Sarah thought she was asleep until she spoke again, her voice flat. “Why would you even bother? What do you get out of it?”

“Get out if it? That’s not how I think about people’s lives. Besides, Davey told me- about how you were trying to get us out before they bombed us. You would have saved our lives.”

“You don’t know me. That means nothing compared to what I’ve done in the past. Ask your brother. He’ll tell you what a monster I am.” She laughed bitterly. “Just like my father. Soulless and empty.”

Sarah sat down on the edge of the bed. “You don’t have to be. You can choose to be something else.” Katherine didn’t answer. She closed her eyes again, and didn’t pull away when Sarah took her hand and held it tightly.

 

\------------

Over the next few weeks, as Katherine’s shoulder healed, she emerged from where she’d ben hiding in the infirmary and began to make small forays into daily life at the safe house. She didn’t talk much, but she helped clean and cook with whoever’s turn it was. She sat in the sun with Specs on the porch and ate meals sitting next to Sarah. She was a frequent topic of whispered conversation among everyone, but it didn’t seem that any decisions had been made about her status on either side.

That is, until one morning when she stepped into the living room where everyone was eating breakfast, her shoulder bandaged, face pale and thin, but chin held high. Something about her demeanor caught the attention of the room, and a silence fell. The little kids stared at her with their open mouths full of food as she straightened her shoulders, pushed back her tangled, matted hair, and marched to the table where Jack, Crutchie and Davey were sitting.

“I’d like to talk to you three,” she said, oddly formal. She waited until they glanced at each other and nodded, and then turned and strode back though the room, everyone’s heads swiveling like they were watching a tennis match. The three boys followed her back down the hall as conversations resumed behind them. The infirmary felt very small with all four of them standing stiffly in in the middle of the room.

Katherine took a deep breath. “I’d like to ask you to consider allowing me to stay.” Jack and Davey both tensed noticeably, and Katherine continued, staring at a point over their heads. “I have leadership skills that could be useful to you. I know how to track and scout, and  I can work. I was going to go off alone into the wilderness, but I don’t want to anymore. Not now that I’ve seen what you have here. The way you...look at each other.” She cleared her throat. “I know I’ve done terrible things to you. I treated you like animals. I tortured you,” she forced herself to make eye contact with Jack, “and threatened to kill you,” she said to Davey and,”had you beaten and was just generally an asshole” she said to Crutchie, who almost smiled.  “I’m sorry. I don’t even deserve to be alive but for some reason I am. And I want to be = better. With you. Please.” Her voice broke, and she sat down hard on the bed, hiding her face with her hands as sobs shook her shoulders. Davey, Jack and Crutchie looked at each other, speechless.  

“She’s alone,” Jack said quietly into the thick silence.”She has no one.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you but - are you saying we should let her stay? Jack- you wanted to kill her before.”  

“I know, Dave...but I was wrong.”  Where would I be without you guys? Dead? Catatonic in a cell somewhere?” He ran his hand down his face and met Davey and Crutchie’s eyes. “You were my reason to fight. And you, and all the kids here, got me out of there. You’re my family and...she doesn’t have that. None of us got to choose who were were born to either, but we found each other. She’s never known what it’s like to find your family, to have people who love you. I think we should try to give her that.”

“You’re right, Jack.” Crutchie said, putting one hand on Jack’s shoulder and the other on Davey’s arm. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Davey nodded. He sat down on the bed next to Katherine, and reached out his hand, shaking just a little, placing it very gently on her shoulder. She looked up at them, laced together in a tight circle.  “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Welcome to our family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was fun to write! i enjoy inflicting pain on my beloved newsies children but i'm a sucker (dan deluca voice) for a happy ending. please let me know if you liked it either here or on tumblr (part 1 | part 2 ) :)


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